


Chuck Fucks Up

by MisterPeepers



Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Gen, Murder
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-10-08
Packaged: 2020-06-23 23:04:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19711318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisterPeepers/pseuds/MisterPeepers
Summary: «Reno is awoken at nearly three in the morning by the sound of Chuck banging on his apartment door.As much as he'd like to ignore the whole thing and go back to bed, he gets roped into helping his coworker cover up a mistake; and, as he soon finds out, this isn't your average everyday woopsie. It seems Chuck really fucked up this time.»This is just a non canon story about my ocs. The idea came to me last week and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since then.I don't exactly know where this story is going so uh.. hope you're ready for an adventure.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> in case i ever mention something about the characters that confuses you (like Chuck's shark teeth or his blue skin)  
> just know these are my cartoon-y ocs and they look a little weird  
> [Reno](https://hamu-eggu.tumblr.com/tagged/reno/chrono)  
> [Chuck](https://hamu-eggu.tumblr.com/tagged/chuck/chrono)
> 
> also, i'm uploading these when in 5 page increments because it's taking me so long to write it out  
> sorry if the endings seem abrupt

BANG   
BANGBANG   
BANG 

BANGBANGBANGBANG 

The barrage of bangs coming from the door of Reno’s apartment had to be enough to wake up the whole floor. He had woken up from the first loud pound on his door, but they had been going continuously for nigh on 20 minutes at this point. The clock on the bedside table read 2:56 AM. Reno groaned. 

BANG BANG BANG 

There was no point in trying to fall back asleep. Clearly, no one else on the floor had woken up from this racket because they would have made it stop by now. And if no one had made it stop by now then it probably wasn’t about to cease any time soon. 

BANGBANGBANG   
BANG BANG BANG BANG 

Reno rolled off of his twin mattress and got to his feet. He took one step, and that one step landed him barefoot in the open pizza box he’d left on the floor. Toe first in tomato sauce. He gritted his teeth and scrambled to wipe his foot off on the closest article of clothing he could find on the floor of this pitch-dark room. 

As he opened the door to his bedroom and made his way to the entrance of his apartment he couldn’t be sure what he was more upset about: the banging at the door, the fact that he just up and left the pizza box out and open before he fell asleep, or the loss of the pizza. Although, he did figure he could probably still salvage some of it. 

BANG   
BANG   
BANG   
BANG 

Only upon the _schlink_ of the sliding chain lock being undone did the ceaseless pounding stop. Reno leaned in to look through the peephole and he had to stop himself from audibly voicing his disappointment upon seeing Chuck in the hallway. He sighed as he unlocked the deadbolt and finally opened the door. 

Chuck looked horrible. He looked like he had just run a mile and a half and this was his first stop afterward. His eyes were wide but he didn’t look awake, he looked exhausted and nervous. Reno didn’t need to see the gleam of sweat on his face to tell he’d been perspiring profusely; he could smell him from where he was. 

“What took you so long??” Chuck demanded in a harsh whisper-yell. 

“Wh-… why are you whispering?” Reno asked at a normal speaking volume. “You were literally **_just_ ** trying to bust my door down. I’m sure everyone in the building is up by now.” 

Chuck practically lunged at Reno and grabbed for his forearms. He hissed a long, drawn-out “SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” and clutched the sleeves of Reno’s nightshirt. Reno could feel Chuck’s claws starting to tear through the fabric, and at that moment he knew something was off about this situation. 

Chuck had always been a pretty weird guy and he was well known for being very forward. A lot of people found him annoying and he had a reputation around Command for his fairly abrasive personality. This was odd behaviour for him, though. Reno had known him for years and he’d never seen him this jumpy. 

The two simply stared at each other for a few moments in silence before anything was said again. 

“I did something bad,” Chuck said in a tone so hushed it came out barely louder than a breath. 

Slowly, he released his grip on Reno’s shirt and looked down as he did. The clear look of worry on his face prompted Reno to follow his gaze. It was then that he noticed something about Chuck that he hadn’t seen before. 

His hands were stained with blood. Nearly every inch skin on his hands and arms was covered in a thin layer of dried red crust. At least, all of the skin that was visible under the large trench coat. As Chuck gradually pulled away from him, Reno could see that his hands had left little crumbs of the stuff clinging to the material of his shirt. He looked up to meet Chuck’s eyes once again, but had to wait a moment more before he could bring himself to say anything. 

“What … do you mean you ‘ _did something bad_ ’?” 

Chuck glanced up and down the hallway and shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his black coat. He looked back to Reno and shook his head abruptly. 

“We’ve gotta go inside,” he whispered, nodding his head toward the apartment. 

Reno threw a quick look over his shoulder into the messy unit and then faced his coworker again. He huffed and shifted his weight, looking skyward and tapping a finger to his chin as he pretended to think about it. Then he took one deliberate step back, smiled and shook his head. 

“Nnno.” 

Chuck let out a panicked, “Wait!” He took a step forward and reached out, but stopped short of touching Reno’s arm again for fear of upsetting him and screwing up his chances. His little exclamation must have been louder than he anticipated, because the next words out of his mouth were noticeably more quiet. 

“P-please, wait. I don’t have anywhere else to go, Reno, I need you. You _have_ to let me in.” 

“No, I don’t think I’ll be letting you inside my apartment tonight, Charles. Thank you.” 

And with that, Reno swiftly stepped back and moved to swing the door shut. Chuck desperately threw himself forward and tried to get his boot in the door, but forgot that he wasn’t wearing his uniform anymore and his flimsy sandal barely protected his foot from the blow the door delivered. It bounced back open, but while Chuck fell to the floor clutching his foot Reno had more than enough time to close it and lock it again. 

For a bit after he closed his door he wasn’t sure what to do. He was pretty sure nothing could have prepared him for this. Chuck beating the hell out of his door at nearly three in the morning with blood on his hands was the last thing he would have expected. 

After rubbing his eyes and slowly dragging his hands down his face, he walked the whole three feet to the left and into the kitchen area. From the other side of the front door he could hear Chuck’s grunts and whines as he no doubt writhed about on the hall’s filthy floor. He grabbed a beer from the bottom shelf of his dingy fridge and hoisted his ass up onto the counter before cracking it open. Chuck might stick around for a while, and if he decided to start getting loud before finally leaving Reno figured it’d be best to wait close by so he could handle that situation. 

The animalistic sounds coming from outside soon died down and gave way to more pleading. Reno simply leaned back and sipped his beer as he waited for Chuck to finally leave. 

“Reno, please,” Chuck started, still in a hushed tone. “I don’t know what to do. I have no other options ... I need your help. Please open the door. I’m begging you, man.” 

He went on like that for a while and his voice began rising in volume as he audibly became more anxious. Reno lit up a cigarette and ashed it in the sink while he leisurely went through his beer, starting a second can shortly after. Chuck didn’t let up for a second. 

“Please, just let me in. I’m so scared. I know it was stupid and I know I’m an idiot. Reno, help me. Please!” 

It wasn’t long at all before his tone took a turn. 

“They’ll come here, Reno,” he said rather matter-of-factly. His words were still coming out rushed; he was still scared, but now he spoke in a gruff voice. He was trying to intimidate Reno. “Gamma’s gonna find me if you don’t help. They’ll follow my trail and it’ll lead them right here.” 

Reno had set his beer down and was on his feet in an instant. He had to try really hard to stop himself from kicking the door open and throwing Chuck off of his balcony, but decided he didn’t need blood on his hands too. He thought about just yelling for Chuck to go home and leave him alone, even considering calling the cops. Then he thought about it a bit more and realized he couldn’t do that. 

Yes, he hated seeing Chuck outside of work. Sure, a majority of the time Chuck gave him the creeps. And yeah, Chuck got on his nerves and tended to rub him the wrong way; but he had a bit of a soft spot for him, against his better judgement. Reno wasn’t sure he could bring himself to throw Chuck under the bus like that, no matter what that idiot had done. He knew it wasn’t a good thing and he knew it would probably be his downfall, but there was nothing to be done about it. He felt sorry for him. 

“If … if you don’t let me in, I’ll....” Chuck paused. Reno could tell he got closer to the door, there was a soft thud of his nose bumping up against it. “I’ll tell them you were planning to help me with this. I’ll tell them you knew about the whole thing. I’ll say you were going to help me take care of it, but you chickened out at the last second.” 

It sounded like he was speaking with his lips pressed against the crack of the door now. It made Reno wonder why, though, because he was still speaking at full volume. Apparently, he had forgotten that he was trying to be quiet about this. 

“I’ll tell them about the DNA on your shirt. I’ll leave a bigger trail leading here, a nice landing strip of evidence. Hell, I’ll smear a mural of blood on this door, Reno. Just let me in so we can figure this out and it won’t have to come to that.” 

He had heard enough. 

The click of a lock being undone once again proved fruitful in shutting Chuck up. When the door was pulled open, Chuck’s face was only inches away from the wood of the frame. Reno reached out, grabbed him by the collar of the trench coat, and forcefully yanked him into the unit. He shut and locked the door angrily, but with some restraint as to not make too much noise. One of them seemed to understand the importance of being quiet here. 

“Thank you,” Chuck said as he breathed a sigh of relief. 

“TSSST!” Reno hissed abruptly, pointing a finger in Chuck’s face. Quickly, he spun on his heels and walked a few feet away to the tiny one-person dining table on the other side of his fridge. He dragged the single chair back over to Chuck, setting it down directly beside him. “Sit down; shut up; and, for the love of god, don’t touch anything.” 

With a quick nod, Chuck complied. He sat down immediately, showing Reno that he was ready and willing to cooperate. He didn’t look pleased in the slightest, not even at Chuck’s eagerness to follow directions. He hadn’t wanted to let him in, but he knew there was no way he was going to get Chuck to shut up or even quiet down out there. He would’ve kept talking for god knows how long, name dropping Reno and possibly even going into detail about the events that transpired. If anyone on the floor was listening that would spell disaster for Chuck and, more importantly, Reno. 

He stood in place and took a second to clear his mind so he could plan things out. With a deep breath he thought of a good way to approach this situation. Where to start. Where to go. He needed to know how to approach this. As he exhaled, he saw a clear path lay itself out before him in his mind. Following it, he returned to the refrigerator and grabbed another beer before walking back to his blue coworker. 

“Okay,” he began, holding the beer out to Chuck. “Just give me a run-down of what happened.” 

Chuck looked at the can being held out to him, and then up at Reno. Then he looked back down at the can, but made no move to grab it. He just stared at it blankly. For a moment it looked as though he was going to finally take it, but he simply pointed at it and then put his hand down again. He looked back to Reno who was growing increasingly confused, and then his eyes returned to the can. Reno’s arm faltered and he almost gave up and put it back in the fridge, but finally Chuck spoke. 

“You... told me to shut up and not touch anything.” 

Immediately, Reno’s hand fell limp and he cocked his head to the side. He opened his mouth, but it took a few seconds before anything came out. Chuck pursed his lips, clearly trying not to smile. 

“Really?” he asked in utter bewilderment. “... Really!? You’re gonna start up the Chuck Chilton Comedy Hour right now, huh? **_This_ ** is really the time??” 

Chuck couldn’t help it at this point and he cracked a big shark-toothed grin. It faded quick enough, though, once Reno threw the beer can directly at his chest with full force. Surprising to both of them, Chuck managed to catch before it could bounce off of him and slam into the floor. He looked it over for a second, his eyebrows furrowing, and then he hunched forward in the chair. With his elbows resting on his legs he held the can out in both of his hands and started tapping the side rhythmically. 

He didn’t seem to want to speak, or at least he didn’t know how to start. Reno sort of regretted launching a full beer at him. Maybe acting out violently wasn’t the best thing to do after someone’s made a colossal fuck up like this. 

“What happened?” he asked in a much softer voice. 

Chuck looked up to meet his eyes, but averted his gaze away almost immediately. He may have wanted help, but it was clear he didn’t want to let Reno in on some of the details of the night. _Tap_ _tap_ _… tap_ _tap_ _… tap_ _tap_ _…_

“I … I killed someone.” 

Reno rubbed his face again and mumbled into his hands, “Jesus Christ....” He removed his hands and placed them on his hips. “Well, yeah, Chuck. I gathered that from the fuckin context clues here,” he said, gesturing to Chuck’s hands. “How? _Why?_ ” 

“Why does that matter?” he asked, as his eyes darted around the room. He hunched his shoulders a bit and began tapping the can even more quickly. “Shouldn’t we be doing something right now? Like, isn’t ‘time of the essence’ or something?” 

“It matters,” Reno started. “because I need to know what happened. I need to know what I’m getting into with this. Like .…" he paused briefly, unsure if he actually wanted to say this next part. “How do I know you won’t kill **_me_ **?” 

At this, Chuck went completely silent. All the tension in his body visibly fell away and he looked up at Reno unblinkingly. This was the longest he had kept eye contact with him all night, and it was honestly beginning to freak Reno out a little bit. 

“Reno, I c-” he stopped to swallow hard. His expression looked like that of someone who had just been told a relative had died. “I could _never._ You’re my best friend.” 

Chuck’s words struck Reno to his very core. He had never heard Chuck sound like that before. His voice was so gentle and vulnerable; he was really just laying it all out on the table, and the words he said made Reno’s stomach turn. 

Reno was his best friend? That was just about the worst thing he could have said. To think that Chuck had no one else in his life he felt he could trust with something like this; that Reno was the person he considered himself closest to. Reno considered Chuck nothing more than a co-worker. On the worst of days he was annoyance, but on the best of days he couldn’t even bring himself to call Chuck a friend. There was something about him that set off alarm bells in Reno’s head, but he had never really been able to put a finger on why that was exactly. 

Still, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for not being able to return the feelings. Maybe Reno was just too soft. He tried to think of something to say in response, but nothing he came up with sounded good enough or appropriate to say in this moment. In the end he figured that the best course of action would just be to blow right past it. 

“Why did you do it?” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened, Chuck?

Chuck’s gaze fell back to the floor and he slumped forward yet again. In this moment, Reno thought he looked less like a killer and more like a child who had just got caught trying to smuggle home someone else’s toy after playtime. He resumed his rhythmic tapping and now Reno noticed something that made his stomach do another somersault. The condensation that was gathering on the outside of the cold can was moistening the previously dried blood on Chuck’s hands and smearing it all over the aluminum surface. Reno tore his eyes from the can and tried to keep them trained on Chuck’s. 

“I wanted to know what it feels like,” he finally explained. 

Reno gripped the countertop behind him with both of his hands and leaned forward slightly, hanging his head as he whispered, “Jesus fucking Christ, Chuck.... _You wanted to know how it feels??_ ” He met Chuck’s eyes. “And … what? That justifies your taking someone’s life, is that right??” 

Chuck suddenly sat up straight, his thick brows furrowed in anger. 

“Hey!” he shouted, once again completely forgetting that he was trying to be quiet. “You asked why, and I’m telling you! I never said shit about ‘ _justification_ ’.” 

Reno squinted at him, trying to think of what exactly to say to this. He wasn’t able to think of anything, though. Before his brain had the chance to formulate something, Chuck piped up again. 

“And just what the hell is your problem, anyway? I thought you were all about _anarchy_ and _chaos_ and crazy spur of the moment shit.” 

At this, Reno’s eyes shot wide open and his jaw dropped on the spot. He was completely taken aback. It took him a couple seconds to find his voice again. 

“Excuse me!?” he demanded loudly, leaning even more forward, toward Chuck. He held up his hand in an ‘ok’ sign and used his thumb and forefinger to point aggressively for emphasis. “Listen to me very closely, Chuck. I _may_ want to overthrow the government; tear down institutions; and set massive amounts of fires, burning everything until society as we know it is nothing more than a bitter memory; but!! That is, in no way, comparable to **murdering** an _innocent person_. And on a fucking whim, no less! You complete, fucking maniac!” 

Chuck lowered his head and scowled up at Reno, his cheeks becoming noticeably flushed. Clearly, something about hearing Reno tell him off had embarrassed him. He gripped his beer until his knuckles went white, the pressure of the grasp sending droplets of bloody water dripping to the floor. 

“Okay, okay. Fuck! I didn’t come here for you to preach to me. Can we just fucking take care of this already?” 

Reno clenched his teeth and choked back a frustrated yell. All he could do for a moment was reach out toward Chuck with both hands and mime a strangling action at the man before him. 

“I can’t... _help you_... until you EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED.” 

“OKAY! FUCK! FINE!” Chuck yelled, throwing his hands skyward in defeat. He quickly readjusted himself in his seat, getting nice and comfortable. “So,” he said with a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.” 

Reno popped in with, “So, it was premeditated, then?” 

To which, Chuck practically screamed, “SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME EXPLAIN.” 

Reno held up his hands in surrender and took a step back. He grabbed his beer and took a couple big gulps in preparation. Then he motioned for Chuck to go on, crossed his arms, and leaned back up against the counter. 

Chuck sighed and started over. 

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now- the whole ‘murder’ thing- and... tonight just felt like the right night. I’d had a few drinks in me. Was restless. Wanted to _feel something_. So, I drove home and got my spare uniform. See, A few months back I ordered a replacement and told Command I accidentally threw my old one out in a bag of old shitty clothes. A bag that I proceeded to burn, so … y’know, I couldn’t get it back. Did it specifically for this occasion. Got myself a brand-new uniform with a one-time use. Only one night to shine. 

“Anyway, I put that baby on under my trench and set out prowling. It’s a good night, tonight. Cold. Not a lot of people out there. So, I drove around, checking out parking lots. See, I check the lists in Command every so often to see who’s all on Night Patrols and where they’re set to roam. I took some notes at first, but after a while I was able to commit it all to memory. They really don’t change locations that often, and the guards working the night shift hardly ever get switched out. 

“Finally, I found a good spot. A little park in the southwest side of the city. Y’know Gossett Park? The one with the thick woods and the trails. It’s got a little lake in the middle. It was on the night patrol list for pretty much the whole time I’ve been workin’ in Command up until a few months ago. Things have been quiet there for a long time and I’m guessing they removed it because we’ve been having to send more people to other places to patrol. Like that old junkyard with the junkies off Highway 65. 

“But yeah, Gossett. The parking lot was empty and I had a good feeling about it. I parked on a nearby street that had a streetlight out. Seemed like a good sign. Plus, that whole ' _cover of darkness_ ’ shit. So, I headed into the woods, got on a path, and walked for a few minutes before I put on my hat and ditched the trench coat. Then I slowed down and meandered about, acting like I was just doin’ your standard Night Patrol. It took a while before anything happened, but eventually this guy comes walking down the trail at me. 

“He was a business-type guy with his head down, not really paying much attention to anything. High finance lookin’ dude. Suit, briefcase, loosened tie, shirt halfway untucked, walkin’ a little wobbly. Seemed like he must’ve hit the bars after work and was finally headed home, taking a shortcut through the park. I don’t know, it didn’t matter to me. He was the only person I’d seen since getting there so I figured this was my chance. 

“I pretended to biff it, making a big show of the whole thing. Did a damn good job too, if I do say so myself. I made some noise stumbling to get him to look up, then I pretended to twist my ankle and I went down like a sack of bricks. Did such a good job with my fake injury that I actually did manage to hurt myself when my knee slammed into the concrete. Anyway, I asked the guy for a hand, and … _of course he was_ _gonna_ _help out a City Guard_ , right? 

“Well, he did. And... while he was helping me, I killed him.” 

Chuck stopped abruptly, looking to Reno for a response, but he was silent. During the course of Chuck’s recounting the evening he had slid his beer down the counter away from him. Now he stood before him, slack jawed and dumbfounded. 

“Then I found my coat, put it on, and pulled the guy with me like he was a drunk buddy I was escorting home. Piggy backed it,” he said, turning in his chair and pointing to the back of his trench coat. Sure enough, the black material had a dark substance soaked into the back of it, though it was hard to tell what color. Reno just blinked at him. 

“That’s it. That’s the whole story.” 

There was another pause before Reno finally spoke. 

“Well,” he started, straightening his back. “I’m gonna be real with you, Chuck. I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” 

“Cool,” Chuck said immediately, hardly letting Reno finish his sentence. “So, can we deal with this now? I’ve kinda been freaking out for the past half hour.” 

Quickly doing the math in his head, it dawned on Reno that a half hour ago was roughly when Chuck began banging on his door. Meaning that Chuck hadn’t been freaking out when he was prowling the city, walking through the woods, murdering the businessman, or dragging him back to his car. He only started freaking out when he thought Reno wasn’t going to answer the door. As upsetting a thought that was, he didn’t feel like addressing it out loud or even dwelling on it for longer than he already had. Reno shook his head, as though that would get the unpleasant thoughts out. 

“Wait, just....” He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched at the skin between them. “Let me get this straight. You just … _killed him_? Like, how? With what?” 

Now Chuck fell silent, his shoulders hunching up again and he looked around the room for a rather uncomfortable length of time. Slowly, as he kept his gaze skyward, he lifted one moist, bloody hand. He wiggled his fingers a bit, letting his claws click against each other. 

“ _Christ_....” Reno sighed, exasperated. “Okay, well... is the body still in your trunk?” 

“I never put him in the trunk,” Chuck replied, looking back to his friend. 

“...Excuse me?” 

“Never put him in the trunk. I sat him in the passenger seat, put a blanket on him. Looks like he’s sleeping.” 

Reno stared blankly at Chuck. 

“...But he’s still there?” 

“Yeah, he’s still there.” 

“Alright, let’s go,” Reno said, pushing himself away from the counter. He grabbed his beer and began trying to quickly finish it off. 

“Let’s do this!” Chuck exclaimed cheerfully as he finally cracked open his own beer. 

The can immediately fizzed up and in an instant foam was running over his hands and spilling onto the floor, creating a large, bloody beer mess. Reno’s attention was grabbed by the sound of the splashing, and the moment his eyes saw the puddle on his kitchen floor his stomach did a flip for a third and final time. The beer in his mouth sprayed out all over the room and he ran frantically to the bathroom, trying desperately to keep himself from puking on the carpet. 

* * *

In the cold autumn night air, the two men stood silently before the open passenger-side door of Chuck’s old junker. Just as he had described in the apartment, the man was sitting slumped in the seat with a large, thick blanket draped over him. The wool was pulled up to his nose, the seat was reclined slightly, and his eyes were closed. 

“That’s _almost_ convincing,” Reno commented. 

“Thanks, I know,” Chuck said with a grin. It was as though he didn’t even notice the enormous, still wet blood stain that covered a majority of the blanket. 

Reno shook his head and rolled up the sleeves of the midnight blue shirt he had put on just before coming outside. It seemed like a good idea to wear dark clothes for this endeavor, so before they’d headed out, he went and put on his old moth-eaten shirt and a pair of old black pants that had been stained with grey paint. Then, while Chuck haphazardly wiped up the kitchen mess with some paper towels, Reno grabbed his old, dark green backpack that he’d used in middle school. He made a quick lap around the apartment, tossing inside anything that might’ve been remotely useful in covering up a murder or disposing of a dead body. Truth be told, he hadn’t thrown much in there at all. 

“Give me the keys,” Reno commanded, holding out his hand. 

For the briefest of moments Chuck looked like he was about to protest, as he no doubt would have any other time. He acquiesced and fished the keyring out of his pocket and placing it in Reno’s palm. There was no point in arguing, after all, he was the one who had come looking for help. Though, immediately after releasing them, he did stop and looked as though he had made a mistake. 

“Wait....” he said slowly. “Do you even have a driver’s license?” 

“Not a valid one,” Reno replied as he opened the car’s back door. He placed his backpack on the floor of the vehicle and swiftly circled around to the other side. 

“Wh-… what if we get pulled over!?” Chuck demanded, sounding genuinely worried about it. 

He hadn’t moved an inch from where he was standing. Reno pulled open the driver-side door and paused to rest his arm on the roof of the car. He gave Chuck a raised eyebrow, looking at him long and hard. The man did not budge. 

Reno sighed and said, “Listen. We get pulled over, and my lack of license will be the least of our worries. Get in.” 

Without another word, he climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. Chuck thought about it for but a moment more before finally closing the passenger door and sitting himself in the back. Reno only looked at the man beside him for split second before putting the car in gear and driving them out of the parking lot. He was determined to not spend too much time gandering at the body, as he didn’t trust himself not to overthink things and freak himself out. Besides, the thick smell of blood was enough to remind him there was a corpse nearby, he didn’t need to see it. 

“Where are we going?” Chuck asked after Reno pulled onto the main road. 

“We are going to drive around for a bit. Is that okay?” 

The dryness of his tone made it clear that he wasn’t really asking for permission. 

“Yeah, but where are we driving to?” 

Reno clenched his fists around the steering wheel and grumbled, “Around.” 

“Do you have a plan?” 

“ **_This_ ** is the extent of my plan right now! I’m taking us to a _freeway_ where we’re going to drive on a _fairly empty road_ . Meanwhile, _I_ will think of the rest of the plan and _you_ will put the fucking guy in the fucking trunk using the fucking pass-through seat. Okay? Is that alright, Chuck?” 

“... Yeah....” Chuck muttered quietly. 

There was a long silence that followed until Reno finally got to the nearest freeway. Every minute they spent in the city made Reno’s anxiety spike higher and higher still. It was too well-lit there. The glint of the blood soaked into the blanket caught his eye under every street light they passed. He watched each car on the street, overthinking his every move and trying not to change streets to avoid people too frequently. That would look suspicious, right? 

This was the longest and most agonizing the waits at the stoplights had ever been, but fortunately for the boys, things seemed pretty quiet that night. No one pulled up next to them for a turn, no one in the oncoming traffic lane seemed to give them anything more than a bored glance, if even that. Most importantly, not a single time did Reno see a Gamma Guard vehicle cruising the roads. The minute he pulled onto the freeway ramp he felt his shoulders relax and he breathed a long sigh of relief. In the backseat, Chuck seemed unfazed, looking out the window as he nodded his head to the rhythm he was tapping out on his legs. 

Only a minute or so of riding down the lonely lanes and Chuck spoke up, asking, “Well, what do you think?” 

“I think you’re a fucking idiot,” replied Reno with absolutely no hesitation. 

“I meant about the body,” Chuck grumbled. “Should I shove him in the trunk yet?” 

“Cool it. Just give it a couple minutes.” 

Silence fell over the car again and they drove onward without anything happening for a while. Eventually, Reno gave in to his impulses and allowed himself another peek over at the body. The man swayed with every movement of the car and every bump in the road. It really did seem like he was just sleeping, although now Reno noticed the red smears on his face which brought to mind the reality of the situation. Clearly, blood had splattered up onto the man’s face, going well past his nose and onto his forehead, even a bit into his hair. Chuck must’ve hastily wiped it away with the blanket after propping him up in the car. 

Reno tore his eyes away and got back to watching the road. Desperately struggling to keep himself from gagging, he reached over and rolled down the window with the manual hand crank. That should at least help air out the car and keep him from having to pull over to heave. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are on the road.

“You were right,” Reno said out of nowhere.

“About?”

“He does look like some sort of high finance, big business man,” he clarified,  jerking his head in the direction of the body. “Do you know what that means?”

“There’s  …  a job opening at the bank?” Chuck suggested.

Reno could  practically  hear the smile in his voice and , in that moment , regretted that he  wasn’t able to turn around and punch the smug bastard in the mouth.

“No, Chuck,” he said, squeezing the steering  wheel lightly . “ _ It means _ that people are going to be looking for him. He’s got a job, he’s probably a regular at a bar or two, maybe he’s got a family, probably has friends. Most likely, he’s got connections.  _ It means _ that when this gets reported to Gamma, they’re actually going to give a shit. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“You’re saying...” he started slowly, “that I should’ve killed a jobless, homeless person!” He finished his sentence with a satisfied snap of his fingers , as though he ’d finally  put all  the pieces together .

“NO! You shouldn’t have killed  ANYONE, you lunatic! But you  _ did  _ and you just happened to pick one of the worst possible kinds of people. The kinds that cops prioritize. Because, this isn’t some low income nobody, this is a rich man with rich people who want him back.”

“Man...” Chuck said quietly after a short pause. “That’s fucked up.”

“Well, I’m glad you at least find  that fucked up.”

Reno gave one  more good , long look to the oncoming traffic lane to make sure it was  completely  barren , then glanced over at the business man. Over the course of the drive , he had been growing increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that he was sitting less than a foot away from a corpse and now it was beginning to be a bit much for him. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw only darkness. Then, upon driving under the nearest stoplight, he saw the illuminated face of Chuck whose eyes were trained on his through the reflection . This only add ed  to his unease.

“Hey, you r big fuckin’ head is in the way. I can’t see the road.”

Chuck turned his head and threw a quick look out the back window and returned his eyes to the mirror, saying, “There’s no one behind us.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Positive? There was no , like, hint of light coming from the distance or around the bend? None on the ramps?”

“Yeah, I fucking looked ! It’s dead out there.”

Reno sighed and mumbled, “Okay, okay. Well, then you can go ahead and put him in the back now.”

“ Friggin sweet!” Chuck  cheered with a clap of his hands.

For the next few seconds, Chuck’s head ducked down and Reno couldn’t see anything in the mirror, not even under the passing lights. There was a bit of rustling and other miscellaneous sounds of movement coming from the back, but nothing really seemed to be happening. Suddenly, he poked his head out over the center console.

“Hey, uh, can you pull the adjustment bar under the seat?” he asked, briefly pointing down at the passenger seat before retreating  back  into the darkness.

Without thinking, Reno went ahead and started reaching downward before throwing a quick glance to where his hand was moving. He stopped abruptly and clasped his hand back onto the steering wheel in a flash. There was no way he could reach under the front of the passenger seat without coming into contact with the body.

“Come on, can’t you just pull the recliner lever from the back?” Reno insisted.

“Yeah, but I  wanna yank the seat back first,” explained Chuck from the shadows.

Reno looked back down at the man’s legs, draped in the blood-stained blanket, and he weighed his options. Could Chuck possibly lean up and somehow hold the bar while simultaneously pulling the seat backward? Would it be feasible to pull over the car for a hot second and make Chuck get out of the car to do it himself?

“ _ Do you have to? _ ”

“Oh my god,  ** YES ** , Reno!” Chuck yelled as he leaned into the front of the vehicle again. “It’s really, really cramped back here and I need to put something up there so I have enough room to work, okay??”

Reno let out an extremely loud, drawn out groan as he finally leaned over. He decided that he just needed to do the damn thing first and he could feel horrible about it all he wanted after the fact. Keeping his eyes glued to the road for more reasons than one, he gently gave the deceased gentleman’s leg a shove aside with his forearm and reached under the seat.

The legs did not want to move quite as easily as he would’ve liked, and they fell back against him as he stretched his arm. He felt his mouth go dry as the yet moist blanket rested on his bare skin. His fingers fumbled when he found the bar and it took a couple grasps before he was finally able to hold onto it and lift it upward.

“A-ah, okay,” he said, unintentionally letting out a soft distressed noise.

There was no verbal response from the backseat, only more rustling; the sound of sliding around on the seat and pieces of plastic clacking together.

“Okay!” he repeated, a little more forcefully this time. He felt increasingly dirty with each passing second and it was getting hard to concentrate on the road. Still, he felt no sign of Chuck even attempting to pull the seat back.

“DUDE!!” he yelled. “I’M HOLDING IT!” He sounded a little more panicked than he wanted to let on.

“OKAY, fuck! Keep your pants on!!”

At last, there came the sweet release. The whole seat shifted backward in an instant, taking the body right along with it. The second Reno felt it come to a stop he immediately let go of the bar and sat up straight. His first thought was to frantically rub his hand and arm on his pants, to get off the blood and general icky feeling, but as he returned to his original sitting position, he couldn’t bring himself to do much of anything.

“Thanks,” Chuck quickly said. He reached over and reclined the seat until it was as flat as it could possibly be. The body dropped down heavily with it.

Reno didn’t respond. He stared forward unblinkingly, watching the white lane lines of the road come toward him at a steady pace. This wasn’t the first time he had seen a dead body, of course. That sort of thing comes along with the job. However, in all the time he’d spent in the City Guard, he never had to kill someone. He never had to take a threat down violently. Yes, he had seen other Guards do it and, in his short time in the Beta Division, even saw one of his own squad mates go down, but this was entirely different.

This was an innocent civilian who had been murdered by someone Reno was close to (even if he hadn’t particularly wanted to be close to him). Now he was covering it up and all the while there was a little voice in his head, getting louder minute by minute, telling him he was making a horrible mistake. He was having a hard time coming to terms with the entire situation, let alone the fact that he just had to touch the body.

**_ KER-CLACK! _ **

Chuck suddenly flopped himself belly-first across the body, holding out a large cardboard box that clattered as he moved. Reno jumped and unintentionally jerked the car to the side briefly as he choked out a small yell that he desperately tried to contain. This amused Chuck, who couldn’t help but laugh as he wiggled forward over the corpse and placed the box by its feet.

“Sorry, just had to get this outta the way,” he explained, still laughing.

“What the hell is that!?”  demanded Reno in a tone far more  outraged than  seemed necessary . He was breathing  pretty  h ard as he tr ied to settle his heartbeat.

“Chill out man,” he chuckled. “It’s just my cassettes. I used to listen to ‘ em on the way to work after the radio shit out, but eventually the stupid deck busted too.”

As he spoke, he r etreated to the rear of the car and began tugging the motionless passenger backward , blanket and all .  Reno simply clutched the wheel and focused on keeping them on a straight path. While Chuck pushed and pulled at the man, Reno kept his gaze strictly switching back and forth between the road ahead and the rear-view mirror.

“I was thinking,” Chuck grunted. “about taking the tapes to a thrift store, instead of just tossing them. But … I don’t know if I could part with ‘ em ,  y’know ? I’ve had ‘ em for years. That’s a lot of good memories. Plus, I got some major fuckin’ jams in there.

“I’ve been  thinkin ’ for a while... might just get a new player for the car. But then... why not just go all out and get a new radio, right? I  dunno , a tape player is probably a lot cheaper than a whole new radio. Then again, maybe I could get a really cheap radio. I  s’pose it depends on what I want to listen to.”

Reno was already incredibly annoyed and on edge, but he was doing an okay job of keeping himself focused on the road. At least, he had been doing good up until Chuck put his foot on the back of Reno’s seat for leverage. The sudden force applied to it shoved Reno forward and he finally broke.

“SHUT UP! And DON’T! Tell me to chill out!!” he snapped. “You do not get to tell me to chill out. Not tonight, not ever again. Not after what you’re putting me through, do you fucking understand me?”

All sounds and any hints of movement from his peripheral vision ceased at once. Everything stayed very quiet for a minute until Chuck slowly resumed his work.

“Okay... jeez....” he muttered, putting his foot against the center console and getting back to it.

While Reno calmed down, he found himself wishing that Chuck would work a little faster, which suddenly reminded him that he had things to do as well. They needed to be quick about this, every part of it, and that included figuring out the game plan. The longer this t ook them the more likely it would be that they’d be found out. First and foremost, they needed something to do with the body.

_ ‘Burn it?’  _ he pondered. _ ‘ _ **_ No. _ ** _ ’ _

As much as Reno loved setting fires, it would almost certainly attract attention. There wasn’t a single place he could think of where the light, smoke, or smell wouldn’t arouse someone’s suspicions. He also assumed it’d take a long time to burn an entire, moist, fleshy person down to ash without some special equipment. Plus, burning a body to cover up Chuck’s horrible murder would likely be enough to put Reno off his favourite pastime for good. Burning shit was his pride and joy. 

_ ‘Dump it? Far too risky. Sink it in a nearby body of water? Seems unreliable. Bury it?’ _ Again, he couldn’t come up with a single place they’d be able to do it without getting noticed.  ‘ _ Feed it to some animals? …What animals? Also, it seems like it’d be a pretty uncertain fix. Frame someone?  _ **_ No. _ ** **** **_ Absolutely not. _ ** _’ Chuck had already destroyed one innocent person’s life tonight; Reno wasn’t about to let him do it to someone else. _

__

The more Reno thought over some of the prior options he realized that a lot of them would take quite a bit of time for preparation. They didn’t have time. If only Chuck had let Reno know about this ahead of time so he could’ve scouted locations or stocked up on supplies. Or, you know. If only he had not done this at all.

__

Reno shook his head, trying to clear his brain. Back to step one. If he couldn’t settle on something right now then he’d just have to move past it and work on the next order of business. He’d get back to that later.

__

So, what next? Where were they even going?

__

Well, their two main goals for the night were to take care of the body, and to make sure they didn’t get caught. Reno figured that the best thing for him to do first would be to drive out to Gosset and make sure nothing looked suspicious there. That way he could double check for anything that could’ve been left behind and cover up what he’s able to.

__

He definitely didn’t want Chuck along with for that, though. One person sneaking through the woods, covering up a crime would be a lot harder to spot than two. On top of that, he didn’t trust Chuck to be stealthy at all after everything he’d seen so far that night. He needed to give him something to do while he’s out. That way, while Reno’s making sure there’s no trail behind them, Chuck would still be able to help get them closer to being finished with all of this. But what to have him do....

__

Chuck began grunting loudly and he threw himself onto the passenger seat. The body was about halfway in the trunk, head first. After wiping some sweat off of his forehead and taking a moment to run his hand through his hair, he grabbed either side of the man and lifted. With a loud groan, he rotated the body and flipped it onto its front. At least, he got the back half flipped.

__

_ ‘He sure is struggling with that,’ _ thought Reno.

__

And then it hit him. He knew exactly what to have Chuck do while he’s out at the park. Even just thinking about it was enough to make him visibly cringe.

__

“...Hey,” he said after a pause. He had taken a bit of time to work up the nerve to speak again. “Uh, let me know when you’re … finished back there. I’m gonna pull off and stop by a general store real quick.

__

Chuck huffed a couple of times and from the corner of his eye Reno could see him putting everything he had into this next shove. Inch by inch, he moved toward the back of the car as he pushed, letting out a low growl that slowly but steadily raised in pitch and volume until he was full on yelling. After quite a bit of commotion and very gradual shoving, at the absolute peak of his scream there was a loud  ** THUD  ** as the pass-through seat was slammed shut once again.

__

“Well,” Chuck said breathlessly. “Good news on that front!”

__

He crawled to the front of the car again, plopping his ass right in the blood-stained passenger seat. He reached down and hoisted up his box of cassettes before leaning back and tossing it onto the rear seat. Leaning over, he gave the recliner lever a quick yank, and the seat back jolted up. Then he hunched forward and grabbed for the adjustment bar so that he could move his seat to be more on the level with Reno’s.

__

“Our friend is all taken care of,” he reported with a grin.

__

“Great,” said Reno without a hint of enthusiasm in his voice. He added nothing else to the conversation and was more than happy to leave it at that. But of course....

__

“ Soooooo ... what’re you getting at the store?” Chuck asked.

__

“Stuff.”

__

“Ah, yeah. Okay,” Chuck said with a nod. He patted his knees lightly, doing a tiny little drum solo on them as he glanced around the car meekly. Then he looked back over to Reno. “What kinda stuff?”

__

“The kind of stuff that’s going to help us fix your mess,” he spat.

__

Chuck inhaled sharply through his teeth and quietly said, “Gee.... You’re sure talkative.”

__

“Yeah, I don’t know if you’ve picked up on this, but I am kind of in a shit mood right now,” Reno grumbled, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of him. Part of him wanted to glare over at Chuck, but the larger part of him wanted to never look at him again.

__

“You don’t have to take it out on me...” Chuck whined softly.

__

“No. I don’t  have to, but considering the circumstances I feel like I have the  right to.”

__

The car was quiet for a moment and neither of them said anything. The further along they drove, the more relaxed Reno felt. If he could just ignore Chuck as much as possible, he felt like he could be much more productive tonight. Chuck sure was making it difficult, though.

__

“Okay.... Sorry for trying to make some conversation with my  _ best friend _ . ”

__

God damn it, there were those words again. And there was the tightening in his gut. Despite how pissed off he currently was at Chuck; he still didn’t feel like addressing that particular issue with him. It would more than likely cause this whole thing to cave in on itself. So, again, Reno just let it be and continued driving onward in silence to the nearest off ramp.

__


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reno makes a quick Store Run and bumps into an old friend.

It was a short five-minute drive to the nearest 24-hour shop, and soon enough, they were pulling into a dimly lit parking lot. The area was largely vacant with only a few stray cars around the perimeter and a couple nearer to the entrances. A big, backlit sign clung to the building between the two sets of double doors, reading “SaveSpot” in giant, neon blue letters. 

Reno brought the car to a halt in a space toward the middle of the lot, at the darkest spot between the overhead lights. He took a slow, deep breath to fully calm himself down, then reached into the back seat and felt around for his bag. Once his fingers found the fabric they sought, he pulled it up front and onto his lap. 

“Okay,” he said, turning to point at Chuck. “You just... wait in here. I’ll be back in two shakes.” 

“Aw, why can’t I come in?” Chuck groaned. 

“Because. One:” Reno started, pulling the keys out of the ignition and dangling them in front of him. “I want you to watch the car, and if any rando approaches it, then I want you to start the vehicle and _calmly_ drive away. And two:” he paused to place the keys into Chuck’s outstretched hand. “The less we’re seen together, the better.” 

Chuck didn’t say anything for a bit and only stared down at the keys resting in his palm. Slowly he began to nod, and smiled up at Reno. He tapped his temple a couple of times. 

“Ahhhhh. Witnesses. Good thinking!” 

“... Yeah,” Reno said, as though that had been what he meant. He opened his door and stuck one leg out before stopping to looking back over at his cobalt co-worker. “Remember; If any random person starts getting too close, just start the car and drive off slowly.” 

“Yeah, yeah. I gotcha!” Chuck assured him as he shifted in his seat, slumping down. He gave the keys a good jingle to stress his point before he leisurely propped his feet up on the dashboard. 

Reno rolled his eyes and slung the backpack over his shoulder as he exited the vehicle. He headed toward the store at a brisk pace, only taking one brief moment to throw a glance over his shoulder. Through the windshield he saw Chuck smile and give him an enthusiastic little wave. Reno ignored him and continued onward. 

The department store was a nice little place that Reno had visited a couple times before, but it wasn’t a spot that he frequented very often. It was a good size; not too big, but not too small. It wasn’t on the level of your mega-mart, super-corporations, but it was big enough to have what you’re looking for. 

Just inside the building, right near the doors, was a little checkout counter by the wall. It was one of those ‘20 items or less’ lanes, which also served as an area for a greeter to sit. In front of the counter, stretching out all the way to the other side of the store, was station after station of longer checkout lanes. Each and every one of them was empty. 

In fact, the only register with a light on above it was the one next to the door that Reno had walked past. Behind the counter, he saw the figure of a cashier with their head drooped over an open book, but he didn’t stop to get any more of a look at them. He was determined to make this his fastest lap around a store he’d ever completed.

He took another deep breath and rubbed his hands together in preparation. See, this was not only to be a supply collection mission; he also needed to try and figure out where he and Chuck were headed after this little pit stop. Hopefully, something on these shelves would jump out at him and give him some sort of idea. If not, he would just have to spend a little more time trying to plan on the road. He really didn’t want to do that, though. They were running out of time as it was. 

For his first stop, he swung by the airplane trip supplies and luggage area. The shelves were stacked with baskets of miniature bathroom supplies and small regulation-size containers for liquid transportation. On the wall next to the airplane pillows were shelves of bags in all sizes, from carrier bags and backpacks to suitcases and duffel bags. He surveyed his options for a moment, then pulled down the biggest duffel he could find off of the shelf. He slung it over his shoulder, opposite the side of his little book bag. 

He took a step back and paused to look over everything in the aisle for anything useful he may need or any inspiration for a plan. His eyes were drawn to the tiny toiletries. His mind began to wander. ‘ _Toilets... sewage..._ _sewers_ _._ _..._ ’ Perhaps they could go down into the sewer system to set up camp temporarily? Reno did know of a few cleaner areas thanks to some of his friends that tended to hang out down there, but it still seemed like a pretty gross option. Sure, on one hand, it would be easy to access, but that would also go for any civilians or other City Guards. He’d have to think more about that particular option. 

Next, he made a quick stop by the bed and bath area for a few more towels. Before they left his apartment, Reno had only grabbed two of his own towels, and they were on the thinner side. One of them definitely had holes in it. These towels would be much more reliable and at the very least more … _absorbent_.

Once again, before he left the section, he stopped to take in all of the items around him. He had really hoped for some sort of grand inspiration to strike him, but nothing came in the lonely towel area. His mind returned to his last idea, and he considered the possibility of using his old high school hangout near one of the sewer system’s drainage points. 

It was when Reno was still in middle school that his older brother showed him the smelly, secluded spot. Through his school years it had always served him well as a place to set fires and do some heavy thinking. Although, it had been a couple years since his last visit so he couldn’t be sure it was still as unoccupied as it was back then. 

As he made his way to the automotive section his thoughts were still on dank, dirty places. His mind wandered a bit and he found himself pondering the possibility of breaking into his apartment building’s basement. He only considered it for a moment. For one thing, he wasn’t entirely sure that would be an easy thing to do without getting caught; and for another, if it turned out they were in fact leaving a trail behind them, then it would lead the investigators right to Reno’s home. 

He shook his head decisively as he walked all the way to the end of the auto aisle to peruse the selection of air fresheners. In the end, he ended up grabbing two fistfuls of the tree-shaped ones and threw them into the duffel bag. As he exited the aisle he kept his eyes on the items he passed, only halting when he saw a few over-the-seat garbage bags. These sent his mind directly into the trash. A garbage dump, specifically. Sure, one would be dirty enough that they might be able to get away with leaving a bit of a mess, but then again... _it would be filthy_. Also, there was of course the possibility of having the junkyard junkies stumble upon them. 

He made his way toward the front of the store again. There was only one stop left to make, and it was one that made his palms sweaty at the mere thought of it. With a pit in his stomach, he stopped in front of the hardware aisles and took a second to look down the length of it. For some reason, it seemed miles long to him in this moment. Reluctantly, he began wandering down it and looked over everything very quickly, hardly spending even a second on any one item. No part of him wanted to linger there. 

Then, something caught his eye. A toolbox with a decal on the front of it. 

The sticker wasn’t anything too special. It just had the name of the company, a picture depicting some of the tools it had inside, and the image of a man alongside them. The man in the picture wore a pair of blue jean overalls and a yellow construction hat. He smiled at the camera, one hand on his hip and the other giving a thumbs-up. It wasn’t the overalls or the thumb that caught Reno’s eye. it was that bright yellow headgear. _Construction hat._

Of course, that was it. The construction site! It was perfect. A remote location with next to no traffic a majority of the time, and enough traffic the rest of the time that there was practically no way any of this could be pinned on them. Assuming things went south, that is. How had it taken him so long to think of it? 

He breathed a sigh of relief, finally he had a plan. The feeling of comfort only lasted a split second, though. Now that he had the bigger picture figured out, all there was left to do was to grab the last supplies. He really didn’t want to waste time in this particular spot, so he didn’t bother looking much into what he was grabbing. Quickly, his eyes scanned over each piece of merchandise looking for the words “heavy duty” and “virtually indestructible” and whatever had the highest price. Of course, high price is no real indicator of quality, but he was willing to take a chance on it tonight. He threw each item into the duffel bag and hurried out of the area. 

One hammer. One box of nails. And two hacksaws. 

At the front, he plopped the duffel bag on the counter and made sure its mouth was wide enough for the cashier to see that he had items inside. He didn’t want them to think he was trying to smuggle the merch out in another item. Without so much as a look up to the cashier, he unzipped his backpack and began rooting around inside for his wallet. Even after the employee began scanning his items, he was still having trouble finding the damn thing. He grumbled and rested the bag on the counter in order to get a better angle on it. 

Suddenly the beeping of the scanner stopped. 

“Reno?” 

He finally looked up and saw the person behind the counter for the first time. She was a young, purple woman standing only a few inches shorter than Reno. Her hair was puffy and shoulder length, and something about the way her bangs covered the tops of her eyes was so familiar. It took his brain a while to catch up with him, but he soon made the connection. 

“Oh- heh. Hi, Mina!” he greeted her with a smile. “It’s been a while!” 

Mina Moridi was one of Reno’s oldest and best friends from college, and one of the many that he’d failed to keep in contact with over the years. The two of them used to take a few of the same classes and spent a lot of their free time together for the two years, but once Reno dropped out and became a full-time City Guard they slowly drifted apart. It wasn’t because they didn’t get along anymore, the Guard just sort of took over his life and he found it harder and harder to make plans with friends who didn’t work at the same place as he. 

“Yeah, it has!” Mina laughed. “I almost didn’t recognize you.” 

“Yeah, haha.... The long hair was fun for a while, but I don’t think it really suited me,” Reno said, running his hand through his short, poofy hair. 

“And you shaved!” she noted. 

With a small giggle, she reached over the counter to tickle his chin. Normally, Reno was a very touchy-feely person and would have welcomed the contact, but given how jumpy he currently was and all of the events of the night, he recoiled at her touch. Her smile faded immediately and she pulled back. 

“I’m sorry, I should have asked,” she apologized quickly. 

“No, no! You’re fine! I just,” he paused to cough and clear his throat. “I threw up earlier. I think I might be sick so I just don’t wanna infect you, y’know?” 

“Ooooooooh, I see,” Mina said. 

She gave him a small grin and then, without looking, reached over to the bottle of hand sanitizer she had sitting beside her monitor. Maintaining eye contact with Reno, she gave the nozzle a few generous pumps and completely coated her hands. After she gave her hands a fast and thorough rub, she returned to scanning items, albeit much slower this time. 

“So, what’s all this, then? You got a fun night planned?” she asked playfully, holding up one of the hacksaws. 

Reno struggled desperately to not think about what he actually had planned for them. He needed to think of anything but their actual purpose, he wasn’t sure his stomach could take it. Him dropping to the floor heaving was not how he wanted to reintroduce himself into Mina’s life. 

“Hahaaaa... no,” he said, clearly having a difficult time feigning cheerfulness. “Mom and Step-Dad had a list of things they wanted me to bring them when I go over for my visit tomorrow. I just completely blanked on it until, like, an hour ago. Most of this stuff is for them.” 

He smiled at her weakly and subconsciously drummed his fingers on the counter. There wasn’t a very long lull in the conversation, only a moment of Reno looking over the contents of the duffel bag as Mina pulled them out. Suddenly, he lurched forward and snatched a handful of the air fresheners and held the up. 

“ **Ex** **c** **ept these!** ” he exclaimed, a bit louder and more forceful than he had anticipated. Gently, he set them down beside the bag for his friend to ring up. “These are for me, haha .... The car fucking _reeks_.” 

Mina picked up one of the scented trees and said, “Oh, I didn’t know you had a car!” 

Reno could feel his body tense up. It was like someone had just come up behind him and slammed one of those foldable chairs over his back. ‘ _Why am I still talking??_ ’ He resumed his tapping on the counter, unintentionally speeding up as time passed. 

“Oh, no. I don’t. It’s, uh, my co-worker's. He’s letting me borrow it for the weekend.” 

“Well, that’s nice of him!” Mina said warmly. 

Reno gritted his teeth as he smiled back at her. If only she knew. 

“Are you off the whole weekend?” she asked in between beeps of from the machine. “After your visit to your parents would you maybe want to hang out? We can go see a movie! Or maybe just go out to that one buffet we always used to go to. Or if you don’t feel like going out, we can chill at my place!” 

“Agh, no, I’m sorry,” Reno apologized, growing ever more uncomfortable. “See, this is supposed to be an all-weekend trip, and I totally flaked out on the last one. I just... don’t wanna piss off Steve, y’know?” 

“Oh. Yeah,” Mina said quietly. “I understand. I just miss you....” she trailed off. 

She devoted her full attention to her job at this point, seeming to want to wrap this whole thing up. Reno, who had only just now realized he was drumming on the counter, stopped his tapping and his shoulders drooped. He hadn’t meant to make her feel bad, Chuck had just put him in such a bind and now it was fucking up his chance to rejuvenate an old friendship. 

“I miss you too,” he said genuinely. “We _should_ hang out soon. Really!” 

Mina stopped for a moment to give him a small smile. Reno thought it looked as if she suspected he was lying just to make her feel better. 

“For serious!” he insisted. “How about this; When I get home, I’ll take a look at my schedule for the next couple weeks and let you know when my free days are. We can see when our days line up and schedule something from there. Would you be down for that?” 

“Heck yeah!” she blurted. There was a huge grin on her face now. “You still have my number?” 

“Psh, of course I do!” Reno assured her with a quick wink.

As he got back to searching his personal bag for the wallet, he came to the realization that he was smiling a true, genuine smile for the first time since waking up. Reno was generally a pretty happy guy, he smiled a lot when he wasn’t doing his job. People often remarked about his chill and cheerful demeanor, but this was so strange to him right then. The expression felt out of place on this night, almost wrong. Nevertheless, he welcomed it as a nice distraction. It was good to finally feel something other than fear or anger. 

There it was! Somehow his wallet had gotten buried deep amidst the folds of the towel. Coincidentally, he’d found it right as Mina finished up her scanning duties. He let out a little, “Gotcha!” and pulled it out from betwixt the fabric folds. 

Mina gave him the total, and at first, he went to grab his debit card out of habit. He just barely caught himself. Sure, he may not have been the brightest bulb, but he wasn’t stupid enough to put all of these incriminating purchases on his traceable card. He held out a couple of the largest bills he had on him to Mina. She reached out to take the money, but stopped very abruptly, her eyes rapidly widening. 

“Oh my g-” she gasped. “Reno!! What happened?” 

Reno’s face turned into a sweaty, befuddled mess all at once. He hesitantly followed her eyes to see what had startled her so. Upon seeing his forearm, he not only realized why she seemed so taken aback, but he also had to try very hard not to completely and totally lose his shit. 

“AaAAahaAAHa!” 

He’d struggled to keep himself from yelling outright, which made the noise come out in a strangled burst. It was much like the sound one would make if they were going in for a kiss with their long-time crush, but just spotted a spider on their leg and swatted it off in a very floppy, pitiful manner. In an effort to keep it from sounding too much like he was scared by this revelation, he turned it into a pathetic startled laugh mixed with a sad little ‘aha!’. Like ‘Aha! I see you’ve noticed my new Designer Blood Smear™. Why, yes! It **_is_ ** Gucci!’ 

“Yeah, I- uh... forgot about that....” he stammered, quickly rolling his sleeves down. 

“Are you okay??” Mina asked fearfully. Her face looked pale and her expression was absolutely horrified. 

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine!” he reassured her desperately. He scrambled to think of an excuse. “I just had a nosebleed while I was napping earlier and I haven’t had a chance to shower yet.” 

He held up his arm and rested his head against it to demonstrate how blood would have easily spilled over it had he been sleeping. With his other hand, he mimed a spewing motion coming from his nose to further show how it would have played out. Mina nodded slowly but still looked very concerned. 

“That’s, uh, actually how I woke up,” he continued. “The nosebleed, that is. I just spent so much time cleaning off the couch, I kinda forgot about showering. And then I decided to come out here and get the shopping done tonight so I can head out of the city first thing in the morning. I know I’ll be too tired to hit the stores after I wake up, y’know?” 

“That’s a lot of blood,” she noted solemnly. 

“Well... I get some hefty nosebleeds.” 

Mina squinted at him and said, “Throwing up... bleeding profusely.... Maybe you should go to the doctor and just make sure you’re not dying.” 

Reno couldn’t help but laugh at that. 

“Oh, no. I’m not dying. Not yet.” 

The two of them finally wrapped up the transaction, slowing this whole kerfuffle to a stop. Mina took the money and while she made change, Reno packed all of the merchandise back into the duffel bag. After he had zipped it all up, he looked up to see that Mina was holding out his change to him; a 10 and some coins. Reno knew he shouldn’t have been upset at how much money he’d spent, but he did take a moment to silently curse capitalism. 

“Eh. Keep the change, Mina,” he said, motioning for her to take it. 

“Oh, we... aren’t allowed to accept tips. Any money we get has to go right back to the company.” 

Reno pounded his fists on the counter, lightly enough as to not startle his friend, but strong enough to show that he was angry. She couldn’t help but jump a tiny bit anyway. 

“God damn it, Mina,” he grumbled as he took the money. 

_THWUMP_! 

In a flash, he had thrown himself onto the counter and was reaching out toward Mina. Fast as lightning, he brushed aside her apron and hooked a finger into the front pocket of her slacks. He shoved the money in as deep as it would go then released the lip of her pocket and gave it a little pat. Then, as quick as he’d flopped onto it, he pushed himself off of the counter and stood on his feet again. 

“Mina, I swear to god, if you dare give your hard-earned money to those greedy corporate bastards,” he paused and pointed a finger at her. “I will find you.” 

Mina giggled and closed the cash register. She gave the money in her pocket a small pat as well. 

“Yeah, okay,” she said. “Maybe _then_ we can finally hang out.” 

Reno slung the duffel bag over his free shoulder and began moving away from the counter, saying, “Oh, we will hang out! I promise!” He lifted a hand and gave her a wave. 

“Mmbye, Reno!” Mina called as he left. 

After she gave him a great big smile and a wave back, Reno turned around and exited the premises. He had gotten everything he needed in a relatively quick amount of time, and even had a chat with an old friend he was now planning to reconnect with. For the briefest of moments on this bleak, dreary night, Reno felt okay. He even found himself with another genuine smile on his face as he walked out into the cold night air. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Construction site, Gossett Park, disposal, done.  
> Construction site, Gossett Park, disposal, done.  
> Construction site, Gossett Park, disposal, done.

By the time the automatic sliding doors closed behind him, the smile had left Reno's face completely. It only took him a second to scan the lot and realize that, yes, the car near the middle with the headlights on was indeed Chuck’s  junker . He squinted at the vehicle and, for the briefest of moments, thought that Chuck had turned the car on and was waiting to drive up and grab him at the entrance. Then he realized the exhaust fumes he thought he saw was actually cigarette smoke billowing out of the passenger side window, and the only part of the car that was on were the headlights.

Reno scowled and stomped his way over toward Chuck’s window. As he approached, he could hear the faint sound of music growing louder—if you could call it music. When he drew close enough, he finally saw that Chuck was still slouched down in the passenger seat with his sandals on the dash. His face was a pale blue in the light of his phone, which his eyes were fixed on as he smoked and blasted his crunchy music. He exhaled a large cloud of smoke out through his nose and it drifted out through his window, which he had rolled down all the way. Reno stood motionless beside the windo w as the smoke washed over him  and he  wait ed for Chuck to notice him.

He lost his patience after about a full minute, and he grabbed the door handle, yanking it to try and startle Chuck to attention. To his surprise and anger, the door was unlocked, so he ended up swinging it open. Chuck froze on the spot, staring up at Reno in terror before the realization of the situation hit him. Reno reached in, snatched the cigarette from Chuck’s mouth and threw it onto the asphalt, sending little bits of burning cherry flying like a miniature firework.

“Hey!” Chuck whined.

Reno didn’t even give him enough time to pout as he first hurled the duffel bag, then his own backpack at Chuck. He slammed the door shut with a curse and walked around to get into the driver’s seat. After closing his own door, he turned to his co-worker and backhanded his arm forcefully.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing??” Reno demanded sharply, in a subdued yell.

Chuck had set his phone on the dashboard and was pushing both of the bags onto the floor. He looked to Reno, cocking his head to the side. Somehow, didn’t seem to understand why Reno was so pissed off. Then, it appeared to hit him.

“Oh, I was-” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Your cigs fell out of your bag.”

“ Wh \-  ** Buy your own ** !!” Reno shouted as he swiped them from Chuck’s hand.

“You wouldn’t let me inside...” he said defensively. “Plus, I never actually buy cigarettes for myself. I’m really only a social smoker.”

Reno rolled his eyes and buckled his seatbelt, saying, “Then you’re literally the worst kind of smoker.” He turned the keys the rest of the way in the ignition and started the car, continuing with, “All you ever do is mooch off of others and provide nothing.”

Chuck leaned forward and pulled the duffel bag back onto his lap, letting out a laugh.

“We’re still talking about the cigarettes, right?” he asked as he unzipped the top.

Reno gritted his teeth and reached over for Chuck’s phone, which was still blaring horrible  speedcore . He threw it squarely at Chuck’s face and it bounced into the bag. Chuck involuntarily growled, then rubbed his snout.

“Turn your fucking music off! Why the hell are you even playing music??”

“I was bored!” Chuck whined. “You were taking  forever. I don’t get why you’re so mad!”

“I’m  _ mad _ ,” Reno started as he shifted the car into gear, “because I told you to watch out for people. Then I leave for a few minutes and come back to you smoking  _ my cigarettes,  _ window all the way down, playing shitty music, with the car’s headlights on for some god forsaken reason.” He paused while he looked around before pulling out of the parking space. “Why did you even turn the lights on?”

Chuck finally got around to turning his music off, saying, “I just put the keys in the ignition  ‘cause I didn’t want to hold ‘ em . Must’ve turned  em out of habit.” He put his phone in his pocket and went back to rummaging through the bag. “I don’t see what your beef is about me smoking, though.”

“The point of having you stay out in the car was to make sure no one got too close. That point is entirely defeated if you’re hardly paying attention and, on top of that, drawing attention to the vehicle.”

Chuck stopped searching the bag and looked over, but said nothing. Reno sighed.

“If someone walking through the parking lot sees smoke coming out of the window, that’s naturally going to draw their eye. Say they’re walking close enough to get a look inside. Now their eyes go from the smoke to the person sitting inside. Maybe they catch a glimpse of those faint stains on your hands, or even the colossal mess on the seat. Do you get it now?”

Chuck paused for a beat, then returned his attention to the bag.

“Yeah, but no one  _ did _ see,” he retorted.

Reno huffed, “As far as you know.”

“Aw, are these for me?” Chuck asked abruptly, as he pulled out one of the tree-shaped air fresheners. He didn’t react to Reno’s words, as though he hadn’t even heard him. “ _ Thank you _ ."

“You’re welcome,” Reno said flatly.

With a big smile, Chuck hung the little green tree on the rear-view mirror and retrieved more of them from the bag. He began shuffling through the colors excitedly. Reno took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on remembering the directions to their destination.

“So, where to now, Mr. Kinsey?” Chuck asked, as though right on cue.

“We’re going to the construction site we were  posted at last year.”

“Mm.”

The destination in question had always intrigued Reno a bit, since it seemed to be shrouded in mystery for anyone who looked at it even a little closely. Even while working there, he and a few other fellow guards were curious about the details of the assignment, but they hadn’t been told anything. Any and all questions asked to the higher-ups were met with silence. Most of the others who had been posted there still didn’t know what was really going on. The whole thing never interested Chuck, though. He was content to simply do his job and then go home at the end of the two months.

“As I suspected,” Reno continued, despite knowing Chuck likely didn’t give a shit, “the whole operation was a diversion tactic. I used my clearance to look into the files and reports after the fact, and we were essentially guarding a useless plot of land. They completely stopped construction as soon as we were dismissed and it’s been mostly abandoned ever since. We’re just going to stop there for an hour or so while I-”

“Mostly abandoned,” Chuck repeated as he hung a pink air freshener around his neck.

“Yeah. Some homeless people move in there every now and again. Every couple of months Command sends a few guards to go in there and clear them out. The bastards.”

Reno turned onto a road that would bring him back to a freeway entrance, then thought about his words.

“Command,” he clarified. “Not the homeless people.”

“Uh-huh. And how do you know it’s abandoned right now?” Chuck asked, shuffling through the trees some more. He stopped at a blue one, then leaned over and stretched it over Reno’s head, letting the tree dangle around his neck.

“My friend Sammy is homeless. The other day I visited him at his current camp and he was telling me that Command had just evicted them from the site last week. He and the rest of the families, that is. When they’re kicked out of a place, they all just travel to a new spot and set up there for as long as they comfortably can, until they’re pushed out again. They’ve got a rotation.

“And Command hardly gives a shit about that place now. They only check it out every two or three months, or unless they have reason to believe people are living there. We’ll be fine staying there for a bit. If things get hairy after the fact and they find my DNA there, I can tell them I’ve been there to visit Sammy. Which I have. Hell, if they find both of our DNA there, we can tell them we on an assignment there last year. They can check the records.

“But they’re not going to find either of our DNA. I figure if we’re quick, we don’t make a mess, and we don’t leave anything behind, then we’re in the clear. There’s no reason for them to even check the site in relation to this guy’s disappearance.”

Chuck nodded halfheartedly and made a small noise of acknowledgement, but it was clear he wasn’t really paying attention. Currently, he had occupied himself with folding up the air fresheners attempting to cram them into the vents. Reno returned his eyes to the road.

As he sped down the freeway at a reasonable pace, he thought to himself,  _ ‘Okay. The prep is done, now we just have to do it. Construction site, Gossett Park, disposal, done.’ _ Sure, he didn’t exactly have a plan for disposing the body yet, but he figured he could come up with one while he was doing cleanup at the park.  _ ‘Construction site, Gossett Park, disposal, done. You can do this.’ _

**_ R _ ** **_ IP _ **

Reno  looked over to see that Chuck  had given up on jamming the trees into the vents . He had unfolded them and was  tearing them into strips . Then, he took the strips of scented cardboard slid them all the way into the  slots of the  vents until they were gone.

**_ R _ ** **_ RRIP _ **

His eyes switched back to the road. Oddly, the pace at which the street lights passed by overhead matched up nearly perfectly with Chuck’s tearing. It was almost hypnotic. He felt his mind start to blank for but a brief moment until something in the distance grabbed his attention.

It was a small lump by the side of the road, and it was coming up quick. As they drew nearer, Reno could see the mass was furry and it laid motionless, just barely away from the lanes. Roadkill.

**_ RR _ ** **_ RRRRRIP _ **

Reno’s eyes shot wide open.

He slammed on the breaks right as they passed the animal, and he pulled the car off to the shoulder. Chuck, who was not wearing his seatbelt, jerked forward and smacked his head right into the dashboard. The car shook and rattled, and the tires squealed loudly as it stuttered to an abrupt stop.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Chuck asked, his voice trembling a bit. He rubbed his nose again as he looked worriedly to his friend.

Reno stared into the  rear view mirror for a good few seconds to make sure there were absolutely no cars coming. Once he was certain, he put the car in park and unlatched his seatbelt so he could reach down and grab his bag from beside Chuck’s feet. He opened it up and grabbed the first towel he saw.

“Nothing,” he said quickly.

And at that, he tossed his backpack down and got out of the car.

Unraveling the towel, he jogged back down the road, past the black tire marks he’d just made. He thought he had stopped closer, but they had been going too fast to make a quick stop. This was perfect, though. Reno wasn’t sure what he’d have done if he hadn’t thought of this.

He slowed to a stop in front of the raccoon that laid battered on the asphalt. It was whole; no missing parts, no blood smear. Blunt force trauma had done it in and, apart from the bloody face, it looked near pristine by his reckoning. There was no smell and the blood was still wet. Conditions couldn’t have been more perfect.

With a quick flap of the towel, he covered the animal and tucked his hands under its body, using the cloth as a barrier. He rolled it over a bit so he could grab the rest of the towel and cover the carcass completely. Once the raccoon was bundled up tightly, he tucked it under his arm and ran back to the car.

“What the hell are you doing?” Chuck asked when Reno opened the back door to place the creature in the back seat.

“I have an idea, alright?”

Chuck eyed the bundle as Reno returned to his place behind the wheel. He raised an eyebrow, expectantly waiting for more of an explanation, but got nothing as Reno quietly pulled back onto the freeway. He rubbed his nose again, wincing at his own touch.

“What’s your idea?” he finally asked, as he resumed his duffel bag endeavors.

“A diversion tactic. Sort of. Kind of like the construction site. Something big and obvious in plain sight to hide something going on miles away.”

“Right, right. The construction thing,” Chuck mumbled.

At this point, he had apparently gotten fed up with being neat and orderly. He took out the rest of the air fresheners and dumped them at his feet before moving onto the towels. He pulled each of them out, one by one, and balled them up before throwing them over his head behind him. After they were all gone, he put his hand back into the bag, but came to a full stop when his claws clanged against metal. He squinted into the bag until the car finally passed by another street light.

“ OohooHOO !” he exclaimed cheerfully.

He reached into the bag and, ever so slowly, pulled out both of the hacksaws in one hand. They clinked together loudly as he held them out before himself. He gave Reno a cheeky smile and raised an eyebrow.

“Are these for what I think they’re for?” he asked through  his shark-toothed grin.


End file.
